Ear/horn relationships of the pronghorn.

Abstract

One method of determining the trophy qualities of big game animals involves calculating a size relationship between two anatomical structures. For the pronghorn, Antilocapra americana Ord, the most common size relationship used is ear length compared to horn length. Two ear and four horn measurements of 60 pronghorns, harvested during the 1979 and 1980 Kansas fir·earms hunting seasons, were statistically analyzed with appropriate tests to determine if horn length could be estimated by using ear length as a known measurement to which unknown horn length was compared. The two ear measurements were the standard ear measurement used by mamrnalogists and distance from the junction of the ear and skull to tip of the ear. The four horn measurements were total horn length, distance from ear tip to top of horn curve, prong length, and horn base circumference. Statistical results indicated that total horn lengths could be estimated when compared to a predetermined ear length, and that prong lengths and base circumferences could be estimated from estimated horn lengths.